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Gravenhurst
The Regional Municipality of Gravenhurst, also popularly known as Gravenhurst Region, (Spring 2009 population 726,893) is a highly autonomous regional municipality (see Government systems) located in the Imaginary Lands of Nicholas. It is bounded to the north by Concord County, south by Regional Municipality of the Periodic Table, west by Alphabet County, and east by Pickering County. It is the second most populous country in the Imaginary Lands of Nicholas, after Regional Municipality of Long (Population 997,238). History According to archaeological evidences, it is estimated that the area was first settled in 1852 BCE. The Cantonese migrated over into what is now Gravenhurst Region. Many of the current cities that exists within the region were settlements of the Cantonese. In the early 1600s, Christopher Columbus, when seeking for a way to the Far East, leaving North America, came across a gigantic continent in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. This continent was never discovered by Europeans. This contient, as Christopher Columbus thought, is the Far East. Actually, it was a continent already settled by Cantonese people, who were the natives. There was already a complete, democratic form of government ever since the year 1. In the early years, Europeans were not very welcomed into the continent. In exchange for legal immigration, the Europeans reached a deal with the Cantonese. The Europeans would build the cities and occupy civil jobs to serve the continent. The continent, however, is still in complete ownership of the Cantonese. As a result, all prime ministers of different region, and the King of the continent had remained to be all Cantonese. The Cabinet ministers and the Senate are also held by the Cantonese. However, many of the MPs consist of the Europeans, and the number is increasing. In 1644, the Act of European Immigrants gave the English language special rights, and the English language became the second official language after Cantonese. At this time, an English official name "Archimedes County" was created for the English immigrants. The county began with a very small area originally named Archimedes County, consisting only Borden, Dundas, Lisi, Donsley, and Archemedes. In 1693, Lethbridge County joined Archimedes County, the county now has a population barely over 100,000. As the county builds up, and the mayors of different municipalities are discussing about the possibility of creating a federal government. (In particular, majority of the English population concentrated in Borden. By 1702, the first English mayor was elected in Borden.) During the discussion, the mayors discussed of a possibility of merging Archemedes and Borden. This caused a dismay of the mayor of what was the Township of Borden. As a result, the Township of Borden was excluded from the county, forming its independent county called the Borden County. All regional services, including transit and road maintenace, was discontinued for Borden. Borden, at this time, was stranded by the lack of money to maintain transit and road maintenance. This financial crisis even further deepened when many of its English citizens move into the nearby Town of Archimedes. Meanwhile, in Archimedes County, new subdivisions are opening up, such as Guelph, Warshaw, and Puffleton. In 1757, Borden County merged back to Gravenhurst County after the death of the mayor of the Township of Borden. In 1812, several linguistic experts suggest the name should be changed into "Archemedes County" instead, due to spelling issues. This was done so in the Archemedes Act of 1812. In the same act, it also gave power to the English to name roads and streets. In 1867, Alphabet County, the county just west of Archemedes County, a county mainly occupied with French Jesuits. The county has a population of about 30,000. With the merge of the county into Archemedes county, French was listed as the third official language. At the same time, in 1867, the capital of the county was moved to what was called City of Gravenhurst (now part of City of Archemedes). With this movement, the King of the continent, Nicholas M. Tam the 11th, designated the county to become The Regional Municipality of Gravenhurst. The name remained until today. In 1993, Texas County has an agreement of merging into Gravenhurst Region. A merger of services has been performed. In 1996, the Independent Municipality of Mapleview also joined Gravenhurst Region. In May 2009, Gravenhurst Region purchased a 5,000 squared kilometres piece of land. The event was known as The Hydrogen Purchase. Geography Gravenhurst Region is divided into 160 parcels, each about 100 squared kilometer in area, meaning the whole country is about 16,000 squared kilometers in area, which is about the size of California. Normally, each parcel contains one municipality. However, in some cases, a municipality can occupy more than 1 parcel. Such example would be Archemedes, which occupied about 5 parcels. There are 39 municipalities in Gravenhurst Region as of February 2009, with the biggest being the City of Archemedes with a population of about 316,109. The smallest of all is Gravenhurst, Unorganized, with a population of 0. The Gravenhurst Unorganized township collects all the uninhabited area in Gravenhurst. This unorganized township is shrinking in terms of area as more municipalities are created due to the spread of population to the unorganized area. The landscape of Gravenhurst Region includes farmlands across the region, undeveloped areas in the unorganized township, escarpments along the Highway 506 corridor, and lakes and swamps towards the boundary with Pickering County. Climate Much of Gravenhurst is in the temperate climate zone, with temperatures as low as -20C in the winters and as high as 35C in the summers. Snowfalls are common in many cities in Gravenhurst. However, there are several exceptions to this general climate. Caledonia, for example, which is in the Escarpment Valley, sees a much warmer climate in the winter and a much cooler climate in the summers. Rainfalls are also more plenty in the area. Areas in the south, such as Lydia and Wellesley are experiencing the same types of climate. Though snowfall is rare, there are usually one or two major snow events every winter. Metropolitan Area The region is also divided into metropolitan areas, much like Canada is divided into provinces and territories. A city qualifies to "own" a census metropolitan area (CMA) if its base city has a population of more than 10,000. A city qualifies to "own" a census agglomeration (CA) if the base city has a population of more than 1,000. A municipality with a legal status of a town may not "own" a metropolitan area. Government The Gravenhurst Region has a parliament situated at 8 Park Lawn Road in Archemedes. The parliament system is identical to the Canadian system, with a representative (MP) per 10,000 people, and a senate representative per municipality (excluding the Unorganized Township). There is a prime minister and a Governor General operating as the rulers of the country. The country is under the King of the Imaginary Lands of Nicholas. Economy Gravenhurst is among the most wealthiest nations in the Imaginary Lands of Nicholas. Most of the commercial economic activities take place in Downtown Archemedes, while most of the industrial economic activities take place further north, in the City of Warshaw. Shopping There are many large shopping malls across the region, including: * Mall of Shoppers Wonders (Archemedes) * Dundas Village Mall (Dundas) * Lethbridge Shopping Centre (Lethbridge) * Essa Outlet Mall (Borden) * Lisi Marketplace (Lisi) * Sobeys Power Centre (Mapleview) Transportation Most the roads in the region is grid-like. Most major roads across the region are assigned as 'Gravenhurst Regional Roads'. Highways in suburban areas are assigned as 'Gravenhurst Regional Highways', while highways in urban areas are locally assigned. The ones assigned by the region is paid and maintained by the region, while the local roads and highways are paid by their respective municipalities. Major Highways At-Grade Highway * Highway 1 (Crowfoot Highway, South Archemedes <> Oppel) * Highway 2 (Decommissioned, Wellesley <> Archemedes <> Lethbridge) * Highway 3 (Sydenham <> Donsley <> Welford) * Highway 4 (Sussex <> Lethbridge <> Sydenham <> Vandehogan) * Highway 7 (West Pacific Coastal Highway) * Highway 10 (Lydia <> Borden <> Caledonia) * Old Highway 10 (Borden <> Manhatten <> Medicine Hat) * Highway 12 (Lisi <> Manchot) * Highway 15 (Lisi <> Pickering County) Expressways * Jones Creek Expressway (Archemedes) * Lethbridge - Puffleton Link (Lethbridge <> Puffleton) * Lincoln M. Alexander Expressway (Archemedes) * Peace River Expressway (Lisi) * Perimeter Expressway (Under Construction) * River Thames Expressway (Archemedes) * Sussex - Valleydale Ring (Sussex, Valleydale) * Highway 47 (Hydrogen Falls <> Periodic Table Municipality) * Highway 100 (Mapleview <> Nazareth County) -- To be re-assigned as Highway 500. * Highway 505 (Archemedes <> Caledonia <> Mapleview <> Zephyr - Topsity) * Highway 506 (Archemedes <> Lisi <> Pickering County) * Highway 507 (Dundas <> Wellington, under constructions) * Highway 511 (Fort Erie <> Periodic Table Municipality) * Highway 512 (Dundas <> Warshaw) * Highway 519 (Borden <> Manhatten <> Puffleton, under constructions) Air Transportation Most large municipalities across the region has an access to an airfield or an airport. However, most of the region's air traffic is concentrated on Archemedes International Airport, which has 3 passenger terminals, 3 commercial terminals, and 1 industrial terminal. Other busy airfields including the Sussex - Valleydale Airfield, and Manchot Airfield. There are also airfields under construction, including the Mapleview Airfield, Lydia Airfield, Sussex International Airport, Lisi Airfield, and Lethbridge - Warshaw Municipal Airport. Public Transportation Gravenhurst Region has the best public transportation system according to the King of the Imaginary Lands of Nicholas. The region is served by: * Gravenhurst Regional Transit, which serves the region (except the City of Mapleview and area) with about 200 bus routes. * Mapleview Transit, which serves just the City of Mapleview and its immediate neighbour municipalities. * GO Transit, which serves the region with about 9 train lines, and several bus shuttles across the region. * VIVA, a rapid transit system serving only the cities of Vandehogan and Dineen-Clark at this point * The Linx, a subway system serving only Archemedes at this point, but planning to extend to other cities. * GMini, a minibus system serving only Lethbridge, Warshaw, and Archemedes at this point Languages Spoken In Gravenhurst, the native speakers are Cantonese, hence Cantonese is the first official language. With more new incomers, English was added to the official language. Also due to a large French speaking population with the amalgamation with Texas County, French was later added to the official language as well. All government service must include all these three languages, while all private public service must include two of these three languages. There are numerous groups of visible minorities who speak a variety of different languages. *